Books 6 – 10 (2018 Reading Challenge)

I’ve gotten through the next five books for my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I’m now officially a third of the way through my goal! Which works out nicely, as we’re almost a third of the way through the year.

6) The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell

I started this on February 19 and finished on March 11. I had recently seen The Room and through my research on this weird movie, I came across this book. It’s since been turned into a movie, which I enjoyed more than The Room!

This is definitely worth a read if you know anything about The Room. The book follows like an autobiography of Greg (who plays Mark in the movie), how he meets Tommy, they befriend each other, and then throughout the creation, filming and then the premiere of The Room. It’s a fascinating behind the scenes look of the movie, as well as Greg’s relationship with the strange man. I sometimes stopped reading just to process what had happened. The movie was a pretty good adaptation of the book.

I rated it three stars. I did like the book, but Wiseau still just weirds me out and I can’t process my thoughts about him.

7) Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

I started this on March 11 and finished it a few days later on March 14. I heard about the movie Dear Simon and thought it looked interesting. This led me to find the book it was based on, and as it was gathering a lot of praise in the YA genre, I wanted to give it a read.

YA is still one of my favourite genres. It’s easy and fun to read, and the characters are often quite likeable, if not, relatable. This book doesn’t really have a plot in the sense where they story moves from A to B. It’s more like a slice of life, where we fall into Simon’s world and his struggles with coming out to those around him. With lots of pop culture references, and ‘dorky’ moments, this book was just a joy to read.

I rated it 5 stars. I really loved reading this, which you may be able to tell since I read it in just a few days!

8) Doing It! Let’s Talk About Sex by Hannah Witton

I started this on March 14 and finished it in March 23. I first heard about this book from Meg, and her book recommendations have never let me down so I added it to my TBR list. After finishing my previous book, I decided to delve back into a non-fiction book.

I don’t actually watch Hannah on YouTube, but she does often talk about sex and relationships on her channel. Reading the book was quite informal, it felt like talking to a peer rather than a ‘teacher’. She covered topics from sex (obviously), porn, masturbation, STDs, consent, and everything else. I definitely learnt quite a bit, and I do think this is a book everyone should read. It covers a decent chunk of sex-ed in an entertaining way.

I rated it 4 stars. I did really love this book and learnt a bit, but I feel like some more topics could have gone more in-depth. But then, the book might be super long. Either way, it was still a really good read.

9) In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park and Maryanne Vollers

I started this on March 23 and finished on April 3. This book showed up in my recommendations, and I was intrigued so I added it to my TBR.

This book gave me a lot of feels. Something that really stood out to me is thinking about where she was in her life in North Korea growing up, comparing it to how I grew up. We’re around the same age, so it really made me appreciate my own life more. It’s really a fascinating and heartbreaking look at her life in North Korea, and her long escape to South Korea.

I rated it 5 stars. There were times when I couldn’t put the book down and I was just horrified/fascinated by what I was reading. She really has been through a lot on her journey to freedom. I really recommend reading this.

I started this on March 30 and finished on April 11. Rory got me this as an anniversary present as he knew I was interested in it. This book has been going around in the blogging world and I was keen to read it.

I really enjoyed this book. There’s a lot of inspiration in it, Aimee’s instagram feed is definitely thing of beauty. Along with all the inspiration, she does give a lot of tips to taking outfit, selfies, food/travel/flat lay/architecture photos and more. As well as tips to try grow your Instagram following. I can see why so many people recommend getting this book.

I rated this 4 stars. As much as I loved the book, I do take it with a grain of salt. I’m not able to document my life on Insta as she can with hers, since my blog is more a part time hobby rather than my full time job. One day I would love to be able to do that, but till then, I will store these tips and inspiration in my bookshelf and peruse them from time to time!

I like to read a range of books! The Disaster Artist gave me so much insight into that terrible movie, I really liked it. But still, it was a terrible movie haha! In Order to Live was an incredible read, I kept comparing where I was in my life when she mentioned dates and it was surreal. I really recommend reading it!

I’ve been curious about Hannah Witton’s book, I’ve seen some of her videos and she comes across as informative and knowledgeable 🙂 I work at the library and I’ve seen it and even flicked through it the other day lol